Recessed ceiling lighting is a highly desirable light source. Usually a cylindrical fixture is mounted in the ceiling. A socket connected to an L-shaped bracket is vertically adjustable within the cylindrical fixture to hold the reflector lamp at the desirable height. Before inserting the reflector lamp in the cylindrical housing and screwing the lamp base into the socket, a trim ring or baffle is added to the housing by attaching springs to the baffle or trim ring at diametrically opposite positions, and stretching the springs upward and attaching them to openings in the sheet metal cylindrical housing. This is time consuming and difficult and requires expensive parts and substantial labor in assembly and installation operations.
When the socket is not adjustable, the reflector lamp may be positioned too deep within the cylindrical fixture or may extend downward from the cylindrical fixture. If the L-shaped bracket is bent, the lamp may be off center or crooked in the housing, resulting in an unsightly appearance and improper direction of the illumination. The L-shaped bracket may be slightly bent and misaligned by the weight of the lamp which tends to turn the bracket.
The incandescent lamps which may be 75, 100 or 150 watts consume a large amount of power. The lamps have relatively short lives. Frequent replacement of expensive lamps adds to the cost of operating recessed ceiling lighting.
Lamps positioned within recessed fixtures have alignment problems and may misdirect light. Recessed ceiling fixtures have problems of heat buildup which may, among other things, increase temperature of operation and reduce life of the lamps.
Recessed ceiling fixtures require space for connection of lamps and trim rings, reducing light transmitting area. Limited size of fixtures has heretofore limited configurations of lamps which would be mounted entirely within the fixtures.
The present invention is designed to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art devices by providing self-trimming and self-aligning ceiling lamps which are quickly and easily installed and which have low power consumption and high lifetime, greatly reducing costs in installation, material costs, maintenance and energy consumption.